A facility that will use gasification technology to recycle 350,000 tonnes of shredder residue from end-of-life vehicles and household appliances each year as well as generate 40 MW of electricity is being developed in the West Midlands by Innovative Environmental Solutions (IES).

IES - a joint venture between European Metal Recycling (EMR) and Cranford, New Jersey based advanced gasification technology manufacturer, Chinook Sciences - claimed that once complete the plant will be the world''s largest End-Stage-Recycling plant.

The joint venture added that it will be deploying newrecycling techniques and Chinook Sciences'' state-of-the-art RODECS recycling and gasification technology.

The net result will be the production of 40 MW of environmentally sustainable electricity and the recovery of over 190,000 tonnes of additional recycled materials in the form of plastics, glass, clean aggregates and metals.

According to IES, when it comes to end of life vehicles the metals, which account for 75% of the total, can be relatively easily recovered, however the challenge of effectively recovering the non-metallic remainder represents a significant barrier to the UK increasing its recycling rate from around 85% currently to the 95% EU goal it must meet by 2015.

The deployment of the RODECS recycling and gasification technology will be integral to EMR''s ability to achieve this goal whilst at the same time saving an estimated 2 million tonnes of C02 Emissions.

The facility will encompass the deployment of four of Chinook Sciences RODECS systems, which Dr. Rifat Chalabi, chairman & CEO of Chinook Sciences said would ensure that all valuable materials in the feedstock are recovered, including the energy rich organic materials that are ultimately the source of the electricity.

"The process is clean and efficient and will set a new benchmark for the recycling of end of life vehicles and consumer goods," he added.IES said that it has already gained planning permission at additional sites for similar facilities.